In St. Louis, McGwire cheered by fans, evades steroid questions

Sunday, January 17, 2010 | 6:02 p.m. CST

St. Louis Cardinals batting coach Mark McGwire speaks on Sunday to fans at the team's annual Winter Warm-Up during his first public appearance in St. Louis since admitting to using steroids in St. Louis. McGwire admitted that he used steroids for a decade, including when he hit 70 homers in 1998.¦ JEFF ROBERSON/The Associated Press

BY
R.B. FALLSTROM/The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS —
Mark McGwire received a standing ovation from Cardinals fans Sunday in
his first public appearance in St. Louis since admitting he used
steroids.

His scheduled news conference, only minutes later, was much more combative.

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St. Louis Cardinals batting coach Mark McGwire, right, works with Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus in a batting cage on Sunday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

The
second session was shifted to an overcrowded hallway at the last
minute, and McGwire evaded questions about the criticism he's received
from ex-players. He repeatedly emphasized that he was ready to talk
about the game instead of performance-enhancing drugs.

"I hope you all can accept this," McGwire said. "Let's all move on from this. Baseball is great right now; baseball is better."

Dressed
in jeans, a sweater and running shoes, the 46-year-old McGwire walked
on stage to "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses, the hard-rock
song played before his at-bats with the Cardinals. The team's new
hitting coach was cheered by fans who secured seats as much as 3½ hours
earlier.

"I've learned a lot," McGwire told fans. "Especially to
kids out there, steroids are bad. I made a huge mistake in my life and
it's something I want you guys to learn from. Don't ever, ever go down
that road."

Jessica and Sarah Schaaf were in the front row of a downtown hotel ballroom jammed with perhaps 1,000 fans and wore T-shirts made for the occasion that said "Welcome back, Big Mac Land," with a photograph of McGwire.

"He did wrong," Jessica Schaaf said. "But we still love him."

In
a brief appearance on stage, McGwire said he was happy about his chance
to put on a major league uniform again. The former home run king headed
over to Busch Stadium, just blocks away, for an afternoon hitting
session with Colby Rasmus and Ryan Ludwick, and pledged to immerse
himself in his new job.

"Like I told them, I'll be the first one
in the cage, and I'll be the last one to leave," McGwire said. "I'm
there for them. I'm there to pass on my knowledge."

McGwire, hired in October, added he had a "huge Rolodex of knowledge" to pass on to Cardinals hitters.

He
was supposed to be at a podium minutes later, but when his news
conference was moved into a narrow hallway it left reporters jostling
for space and shouting questions. The session lasted just more than six
minutes before questions were cut off, and McGwire was escorted out by
security and police through a back door.

A team official called the last-minute switch an "executive decision."

McGwire
said he's been "dead honest" in interviews since the admission. But he
wasn't interested in rebutting criticism from former Oakland teammate
Jose Canseco, who said McGwire is still lying by denying that the two
players injected themselves with steroids in clubhouse bathroom stalls.

"I'm not going down that road with Jose," McGwire said. "I'll take the high road with the Jose stuff."

Former
Cardinals slugger Jack Clark, who called McGwire a "phony" in a St.
Louis Post-Dispatch story last week, was booed in an appearance on the
same stage not long before McGwire's appearance.

"I heard he said
something. I don't know what he said," McGwire said. "Hey, listen, they
have their opinions."

McGwire
denied again that Tony La Russa, his manager virtually all of his
career, had any knowledge of his steroids use until the day he went
public.

"I kept this to myself," McGwire said. "You know what? I
spoke from my heart. I hope you all can accept this; let's all move on
from this."

La Russa is ready for the day steroid use ceases to be an issue, telling fans that McGwire deserves another chance.

"I'm just here to tell you this is a really good man," La Russa said.

Teammates
have consistently been supportive, too. Cardinals slugger Matt
Holliday, who has hit with McGwire in prior offseasons, although not
this one, said he's never brought up the steroids topic.

"It's
not a great situation to be in, but he's dealing with it like a man,"
Holliday said. "He doesn't have to explain anything to me."

For
his part, though, Holliday said he has no interest in
performance-enhancing drugs, to the point where he's stopped taking
vitamin supplements.

"I'm not willing to take risks," Holliday said. "I'll stick to like a protein shake and that's about it."

General
manager John Mozeliak is among those skeptical of McGwire's assertion
that he would have been a home run champ even without steroids, but
said the team didn't want to coach McGwire on what to say.

"I
think that's what he believes," Mozeliak said. "I think when you look
at the steroid correlations of strength and speed and what science has
proven to date, it has to be factored in.

"He is recognizing it did allow him to be on the field, which obviously would create more opportunities."